Art & Life with Steven Duede

Steven, please kick things off for us by telling us about yourself and your journey so far. My career in art began in painting and mixed media. I worked as a painter, producing and exhibiting works in that media for some 25 years before setting down into photography. In a way, I found my true voice through the lens. I began to focus on using photography almost exclusively in 2010 and found a great satisfaction in the work.

I’ve been living and working in the Boston Massachusetts area since 2001. I have an active work history in museum operations, academic office administration as well as consulting and design for museums, galleries and arts non profits I keep my attachment to the creative process in all work. Currently, I’m pleased to serve with the board of directors with the Griffin Museum of Photography in Winchester MA. My work has been recognized and supported as a fellowship finalist by the Massachusetts Cultural Council and I founded and work as principal and curator of Aspect Initiative, an online gallery showcasing Fine Art Photography in New England.

Can you give our readers some background on your art? During my years in art, I was always interested in painting and photography as a means to convey ideas that were maybe not so obvious to a viewer within what might appear to be obvious imagery. Through texture and colors and patterns more ideas regarding the meaning of the subjects might avail themselves to those of us in the audience, depending on a person’s point of view.

This idea that I mention began for me many years ago as a painter. When making paintings and when viewing paintings I was very much drawn to the texture of a painting. The colors, the brush strokes the density, the intensity that I might feel when viewing or making paint move on canvas. This is how much of my painting was rendered. In thick areas of color colliding among swirls of dense heavy textures of paint. This idea that my images should be chaotic yet rhythmic. Organic, should at times reference art history, should be so packed with texture and physical substance that they can be viewed on different levels. Comforting, discomforting, beautiful, and transitory. These are themes I’ve toyed with for many years. And these themes have spilled over into most of my work in photography.

When I transitioned from canvas to camera I found that the act of acquiring images or of being in the world observing things and making choices regarding themes or scenes in the exterior outside of a studio very satisfying. The rhythms in natural forms the textures and colors we find all around us were as exciting to me as any time I put brush to canvas or mixed paint on a pallet. These selected works are from two ongoing series where I’m using composted organic materials. Photographs are either made directly in my compost bin or constructed using discarded flower and vegetable parts.

How do you think about success, as an artist, and what do quality do you feel is most helpful? When I feel like viewers of my work find something valuable in the works and feel a connection to the ideas and imagery I feel like for me that defines success. I believe an essential to my practice is my own attachment to the work. I have a busy studio schedule with generally several projects brewing at any given time. I’m constantly working and trying to develop new ideas. Devotion to the practice and taking chances, pushing myself creatively is crucial.

What’s the best way for someone to check out your work and provide support? My work is represented by 555 Gallery/Boston and I have a robust exhibition schedule sharing work from Boston to Seattle in commercial and not for profit Museums and Galleries. One can find my works through my website and my work is featured through, and available for purchase at 555 Gallery and Artsy.net. www.555gallery.com

Selected Museums and Galleries include the Danforth Museum of Art, Griffin Museum of Photography, DeCordova Museum, Brattleboro Art Museum, Photo Center North West in Seattle WA. Fort Wayne Museum of Art, 555 Gallery/Boston, OuiMille/Boston, Sohn Fine Art, Site: Brooklyn NYC, Colorado Photographic Arts Center/Denver. Public Art Projects with United Photo Industries (The FENCE) as well as King Co. PCNW (City Panorama) in Seattle. Works currently on loan to the Mahindra Humanities Center at Harvard University and DeCordova Sculpture Park and Museum.

Raw, unfiltered creative expression – from stories and photographs to illustrations and paintings – is at the heart of the BostonVoyager. ...

Local StoriesSeptember 14, 2018

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